The crossover of negative emotions between former prisoners and their family members during reunion: A test of general strain theory

Abstract

Prior reentry research illustrates the challenges former prisoners face during reentry. However, the challenges their family members experience are understudied. This study investigates the strain the family members of released prisoners experience. In addition, it examines the crossover of negative emotions between released prisoners and their family members. We use a dyadic data set that captures the experiences of both former prisoners and their family members during reentry. Our results reveal a reciprocal transmission of negative emotion between the two parties. The negative emotions released prisoners and their family members experience are significantly associated with their respective drinking behavior.

Keywords:

• General strain theory
• former prisoners
• reentry
• substance use
• emotion crossover

Notes

Notes

1 There was no category of Hispanic in the response; thus, we do not know the portion of Hispanic respondents for former prisoners and family members.

2 We admit it is ideal to use longitudinal data to test the hypothesis of GST that in order to cope with negative emotion caused by strain, individuals may resort to deviant behaviors such as crime or substance use. However, there is only one survey item on the family members’ survey from the data in the current study, leaving us only the choice to test negative emotion and substance use of family members in a cross-sectional analysis. However, given the rarity of former prisoners’ family members’ data during reentry, our study is the first to illustrate the association between family members’ negative emotion caused by reunion and their substance use as a coping under GST framework.